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THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY:
THE MAKING OF FRED ROSE, M.P.
——o—
KENNETH ALFRED FROEHLING
Abstract
At a very contentious time in Canadian political history, a byelection was set
for August 9, 1943 in the Montreal federal riding of Cartier, whose population
was mostly, but not exclusively, Jewish and working class. A normally safe
Liberal seat, now the political landscape was a perfect storm of the major
political events of the time in Quebec: WWII and the second Conscription
Crisis, the unpopularity of Prime Minister Mackenzie King, English vs French
Canadian views of the war, anti-Semitism, the Communist vs anti-Communist
battle on the Left, etc. In a bitter four-party battle, Fred Rose, the Labor-Pro¬
gressive (i.e. Communist) candidate won the byelection, thus becoming (in)
famous in the years ahead in Canadian history. My paper will use one major
primary source, the newspaper archive of The Gazette, a major Montreal
newspaper, whose owner and editorial board was Conservative, but who took
an interestingly passive view to a Communist being elected to Parliament. The
events surrounding this byelection show that major historical events made
strange political bedfellows then, as they still do today.
Keywords: Canadian politics, Quebec, W WIL, byelection of August 9, 1943
Résumé
À un moment très controversé de l’histoire politique canadienne, une élection
partielle est organisée le 9 août 1943 dans la circonscription fédérale mon¬
tréalaise de Cartier dont la population est majoritairement, mais non exclu¬
sivement, juive et ouvrière. Ce siège libéral, normalement sûr, est le théâtre
d’une tempête parfaite d'événements politiques majeurs de l’époque au Québec:
La Seconde Guerre mondiale et la deuxième crise de la conscription, l’impo¬
pularité du Premier ministre Mackenzie King, les points de vue des Canadiens
anglais et des Canadiens français sur la guerre, l'antisémitisme, la lutte entre
communistes et anticommunistes au sein de la gauche, etc. Au terme d’une
bataille féroce entre quatre partis, Fred Rose, le candidat travailliste et progres¬
siste (c’est-à-dire communiste) a remporté l'élection partielle, devenant ainsi
(in)célèbre aux cours des années à venir dans l’histoire du Canada. Mon essai
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